1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to processes for obtaining hydrogen and oxygen from water.
The manufacture of hydrogen as a future raw material in competition with oil and coal is of great interest. Hydrogen is an energy-containing raw material which can be utilized for combustion and other processes without creating environmental problems. Furthermore, it has the advantage, as has been established by recent research and investigations, that the cost of transportation of hydrogen in gas pipes is similar to that of piping natural gas. These investigations have also shown that this method of energy transportation can be considerably cheaper than the transmission of electricity. The oxygen which is produced simultaneously in the separation of hydrogen from water also finds wide application, for example for the gasification of coal, for the combustion of waste materials, and for the biological treatment of waterways, sewage plant and the like.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The production of hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis with a degree of efficiency of at best 25 - 27% is expensive and slow. The above-mentioned degree of efficiency can only be achieved however if one is considering the degree of efficiency of the most favourable reactors and of the most favourable electrolysis. Processes have been developed in which by the addition of for example heavy metal compounds, such as iron chloride or chromium chloride, as adjuvants, water is broken down into hydrogen and oxygen, and the adjuvant material after undergoing changes in a number of reaction steps is reconstituted and can be used again in the process cycle. However, the finding of such processes for the dissociation of water is difficult. Above all, the conventional chemical reactions which are known in the art repeatedly suffer from special problems both in respect of corrosion and also in respect of the rate of production of the end product.